Welcome to the reveal of my New Year New Room Challenge transformation: a cozy, chocolate-hued apartment media room that doubles as a study. I’m so grateful this challenge pushed me to finish the first full-room design in my new apartment—and I couldn’t be happier with the results. When I first envisioned this space, I knew I wanted a moody lounge perfect for working, reading, and watching movies. I’d also been dreaming of painting a room dark brown, so I jumped at the chance to create this rich, truffle-toned haven. Keep scrolling for all the details behind my dark and cozy media room design—from the paint color to the layered textures and custom styling choices.

Shop the Look

This wallpaper makes the most fabulous backdrop for the room. It’s the Milton & King Cranes design from their Kingdom Home collection and I love how the green colorway sets a natural tone for the color palette. The dark brown wall paint (Behr Dark Truffle) matches perfectly with the feathers on the crane wings. These fun creatures set the tone for a traditional room with a twist – the large scale of this design updates the pattern for a precedent to the more contemporary elements in the space.

The fact that this sleek sectional fits PERFECTLY in the room is pure luck, but I’m in love with the clean lines of this piece. Despite having the black version in mind for the room, the beige works just as well in the design scheme with a warm neutral that ties in the classic area rug.

An antelope pattern is absolutely quintessential in a study/library design, and this area rug from Mohawk Home is perfect here. It’s incredibly soft but the construction is super durable (and it’s currently on sale!). It checks all the boxes! I love the neutral design, but it would be fun to try a light blue rug in here and see how a cooler color palette would pair with the green in the wallpaper, what do you think?>

Every single piece of furniture in the room is from Home Depot’s incredible home decor selection, which I can count on for a diversity of styles and price points! I embraced the mix here and played with different silhouettes to get a collected look full of personality. From the velvet and fringe ottomans to the traditional roll-arm armchair and gold leaf bookcase, I found furniture staples that really completed the room.

The beautiful Federal-style gold leaf bullseye mirror is actually a piece that my grandfather “Zeus” made! He was incredibly creative and hand-cast all of the plaster ornaments around the frame. It’s a piece that makes me smile every time I see it, and I think it’s found a pretty perfect home in this room as the centerpiece on the statement wall.

This black spiked lamp is a new favorite – it’s the spunky young touch that I knew the room had to have! I love seeing it in my window when I walk by the apartment…It’s so comfy curling up on my sectional with a blanket and all my throw pillows (these faux fur ones are BEYOND cozy) to watch a TV show before bed. I can’t wait to have my friends over for a movie night in here.

A huge thanks to Stephanie from Casa Watkins Living for organizing the New Year New Room Challenge and including me in this round!

There are 16 other talented designers sharing their completed rooms today, so head over to the other NYNR challenge participants and check out their amazing designs:

Casa Watkins Living // The Boho Abode // Delineate Your Dwelling // Haneen’s Haven // The Happy Housie // Homemade by Carmona // House by Hoff // Jeweled Interiors // Kaleidoscope Living // Our Fifth House // PMQ for 2 // Rain on a Tin Roof // Southern State of Mind // Taryn Whiteaker // This is Our Bliss // Up To Date Interiors

xoko